Archive for News
Accidents Happen
Posted by: | Comments4 injured after firearms go off at N.C., Indiana gun shows
Raleigh yesterday:
CNN reports:
Meanwhile, in Indianapolis, a man walking out of the Indy 1500 Gun and Knife Show shot himself in the hand as he was loading his .45-caliber semi-automatic firearm, Indiana State Police said in a statement.
UPDATE: Oh yeah, NSFW.
The Justice of the Blinded
Posted by: | CommentsI really didn’t follow the career of Aaron Swartz, but his apparent suicide made news and brought details to light that had fallen down my memory hole (if they were ever in memory). Including his passion for making public information public … and accessible. That got him in trouble with the law in 2011. The New York Times explains:
In an effort to provide free public access to JSTOR, he broke into computer networks at M.I.T. by means that included gaining entry to a utility closet on campus and leaving a laptop that signed into the university network under a false account, federal officials said.
Mr. Swartz turned over his hard drives with 4.8 million documents, and JSTOR declined to pursue the case. But Carmen M. Ortiz, a United States attorney, pressed on, saying that “stealing is stealing, whether you use a computer command or a crowbar, and whether you take documents, data or dollars.”
Except stealing isn’t stealing in this country. And torture isn’t torture. That is, if you’re powerful enough to be above the law, as Swartz clearly was not. The same U.S. Department of Justice Ms. Ortiz works for has decided that if criminals are well-connected and powerful, bank fraud, massive fraud, shift the Earth on its axis fraud is not something this country prosecutes. Instead it negotiates. It holds meetings, like this recent one.
“The Administration does not support blowing up planets.”
Posted by: | CommentsIn case you were wondering:
[h/t/ BuzzFeed]
Silencer Night, Holey Night: “Think of the children”
Posted by: | Comments
Because at this special time of year every all-American kid dreams of being an assassin.
Semiauto handgun? Check. Bushmaster? Check. (Picked it up at Walmart’s everyday low prices.) High-capacity magazines? Check. Silencers? Doh!!
Not to worry, though. The NRA — yes, Wayne LaPierre’s NRA — is hoping to get silencers deregulated as wholesome, kid-friendly, essential firearm accessories. As seen in Newtown! Salon reports:
In case you’re wondering, the answer is yes, the gun lobby’s grand strategy rests grotesquely on fake concern for child hearing health. Among the opening shots in the campaign was a feature in the February 2011 issue of Gun World, “Silence is Golden,” penned by the veteran gun writer Jim Dickson. “One only has to look at children in the rest of the world learning to shoot with silencers, protecting their tender young ears, to see what an innocent safety device we are talking about here,” writes Dickson. “To use an overworked propaganda phrase, legalize silencers ‘for the sake of the children.’” [Emphasis Salon's]
Homecoming Job Fair Next Thursday
Posted by: | CommentsCourtesy of the Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce:
2013 Homecoming Job Fair
Date: Thursday, January 3rd 2013
Time: 10:00am to 3:00pm
Location: Biltmore Square MallDescription:
The 7th Annual Homecoming Job Fair presented by SunTrust Bank will host Asheville regional employers to promote employment opportunities in advanced manufacturing, health care, and other growth industries in Western North Carolina. Residents, students, graduates, former residents, and friends and family visiting over the holidays are encouraged to attend this one-stop opportunity to meet directly with representatives from companies that are hiring, will be hiring in 2013, or companies promoting awareness of their organization to potential future employees.
More information at the link.
These fairs are a handy indicator of the health of the local job market. I have attended most of them, usually held between Christmas and New Year’s Day. This time, sadly, I’ll be out of town when the fair takes place. Hope it’s a fruitful opportunity for local people needing work.
Firefighters Ambushed in Webster, NY
Posted by: | CommentsVirginia Tech; Fort Hood; Tucson; Seattle; an Aurora, CO movie theater; a Sikh temple in WI; Sandy Hook Elementary in CT. Now firefighters under fire in upstate New York on Christmas Eve.
WEBSTER, N.Y. — A gunman ambushed four volunteer firefighters responding to an intense pre-dawn house fire Monday morning outside Rochester, N.Y., shooting four and killing two before ending up dead himself, authorities said.The gunman fired at the firefighters when they arrived shortly after 5:30 a.m. at the blaze near the Lake Ontario shore in Webster, town Police Chief Gerald Pickering said. The first Webster police officer who arrived exchanged gunfire with the suspect, authorities said.
If America’s last few years were a movie, Keanu Reeves or Tom Hanks or Nicolas Cage would be risking life and limb investigating whether these seemingly random acts of gun violence were actually the result of Satanic forces at work attempting to bring about the end of the world or something like it. Meanwhile, in a dark crypt hidden deep below the national headquarters of the National Rifle Association, Wayne LaPierre is in blood-soaked robes conducting an even darker ritual…
Wayne LaPierre & Friends Are Way Better Than You Wusses
Posted by: | CommentsOr these test subjects. VIDEO: 2009 ABC News Experiment Demonstrates More Guns Unlikely to Stop Mass Shootings
Candlelight Vigil Tonight
Posted by: | CommentsTonight at 7pm Asheville will come together to hold a candlelight vigil for the victims and families of the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Please join us at the Asheville Jewish Community Center.
As the darkest night of the year approaches, we will gather as a community – to mourn, to pray, to sing, to offer our support, and to further our resolve to send our light into the world that needs it now more than ever.
Word for the Day: Courage
Posted by: | CommentsYou know the context. New York Times:
So we have found real reason to find hope in the determination to effect change that followed the murders of 20 children and seven adults in Newtown, Conn., last Friday. President Obama said it unequivocally on Sunday — the enormity of controlling the culture of guns and the epidemic of gun violence “can’t be an excuse for inaction.”
Yes, Mr. Obama has said that before, after two previous mass killings during his tenure, and did nothing. The hurdles are just as big as they were before, but there are signs that people are willing to rethink their views.
I can’t help thinking about the six teachers who faced an armed gunman and gave their lives trying to protect those children. Then I think about politicians who don’t have the guts to face the gun lobby and risk their jobs.
Your other word for the day is sniveling. I’m sure you can find places to use it.
It Is Past Time
Posted by: | CommentsRead this: I am Adam Lanza’s Mother
I am sharing this story because I am Adam Lanza’s mother. I am Dylan Klebold’s and Eric Harris’s mother. I am Jason Holmes’s mother. I am Jared Loughner’s mother. I am Seung-Hui Cho’s mother. And these boys—and their mothers—need help. In the wake of another horrific national tragedy, it’s easy to talk about guns. But it’s time to talk about mental illness.
According to Mother Jones, since 1982, 61 mass murders involving firearms have occurred throughout the country. Of these, 43 of the killers were white males, and only one was a woman. Mother Jones focused on whether the killers obtained their guns legally (most did). But this highly visible sign of mental illness should lead us to consider how many people in the U.S. live in fear, like I do.
I’m not really qualified to speak to this, but I suspect she is. There is much more here.
